Australians are divided over a proposal by the Grattan Institute to levy a so-called sugar tax on beverages to help tackle obesity. The independent think tank has released a report, ‘A sugary drinks tax – Recovering the community costs of obesity’, recommending that:

Australia should introduce a tax on sugary drinks to recoup some of the costs of obesity to the community.

The best option is an excise tax of 40 cents per 100 grams of sugar, on all non-alcoholic, water-based drinks that contain added sugar.

There have been the inevitable accusations of hypocrisy over high taxes on alcohol and tobacco products. In response to Joyce's tweet saying the Australian Taxation Office “will not solve your weight problem”, Christian Peterson countered:

But apparently it'll solve ya booze and nicotine use issues. There's a reason hypocrite and politician are a cliche in our culture.#sugartaxhttps://t.co/H2fc2Z4v4J